So — what should Mitt Romney do?

With just under eight weeks till Election Day, the anxious chorus from nervous Republicans can be heard loud and clear throughout the land: “Mitt — what are you gonna do?”

Romney has had to quell doubters within his party throughout the 2012 cycle, but there is an extra dose of urgency this time. With Nov. 6 clearly in sight, several key moments of opportunity have already passed: he has chosen his running mate and the free media bonanza of his nominating convention has come and gone.

Text Size

-

+

reset

But still, in both national and swing-state polls, Romney is stubbornly short of the electoral majority he needs — a maddening predicament for Republicans who see a vulnerable incumbent saddled with a sputtering economy and high unemployment.

There is no shortage of urgent advice for the former Massachusetts governor — get tough, get real, get specific, you name it.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, for example, said Romney’s basic task is explaining to voters how he will create an economic recovery: “I think the question is can he clarify and make clear what he’s trying to accomplish?”

“Romney’s got to make the case in a compelling way for a Romney recovery,” Gingrich said.

But given the lateness of the hour, Romney’s self-evident limitations as a candidate and the difficulty he faces changing a campaign narrative that pegs him squarely as a Job-like figure beset by bad luck and worse political instincts, what can Romney actually do?

With the clock running out, Republicans are pushing Romney to try a range of alternative tactics to move the top lines of the race. The presidential debates, beginning Oct. 3, may be Romney’s best remaining chance to change the way voters view him. But that doesn’t mean he can wait until then to start convincing the country that he really, truly is the right man for the presidency in a moment of economic malaise.

What should Romney do now? Here are some suggestions from a roster of top Republicans.

Embrace your inner Monty Burns

The battle to define Romney is over and, in the eyes of most Republicans, the GOP presidential candidate lost. After responding only slowly and feebly to charges that he’s a factory-closing, job-outsourcing and maybe even tax-evading plutocrat, Romney has probably missed the opportunity to make the American people like him.

That leaves only a very few options left for Romney if he wants to win over distrustful swing-state voters in the remaining 55 days of the campaign. One possibility is to reopen the air war over his business career and try to reverse the attacks Democrats ran against him.

Another, floated by several top GOP strategists, is to run toward the caricature of himself as a ruthless tycoon. The country needs dramatic changes to its government and economy. Romney has shied away from demanding painful sacrifices from the American people, but everyone knows that some degree of pain is on the way.

And who better to deliver results than a management consultant-turned-private equity wiz who made his professional bones — and a vast fortune — restructuring big institutions.

“I don’t think he has to say he’s Gordon Gekko. I just think he has to show that he has Gordon Gekko’s numbers brain, that he’s been outrageously successful and he can make my business more successful,” said Republican media consultant Fred Davis, who crafted John McCain’s 2008 campaign ads.

Davis said it doesn’t make sense to reengage the Bain debate and Romney shouldn’t hesitate to flip back to the upbeat, laser-focused economic message he ran last spring, before the Democratic attack ads started.

“Mitt Romney’s not a simple thinker and he doesn’t lay things out in a simple, common-man set of words. He has to work harder at that,” Davis said. “If my business was going bankrupt and I had the choice for Mitt Romney to come in and help me figure it out or Barack Obama to come in and help me figure it out, that’s a no-brainer.”

Readers' Comments (273)

There is a problem. Looking at faces of Romney and Ryan, I don't think they are getting along now. Each one is gauging what one is thinking about the other. I can see a strained relationship between the two - especially who should be the star. Romney is sick with Ryan for being a liar. Romney knows Ryan has lost luster of first week. The news media has revealed that Ryan is a pathological liar. He is no longer asset to Romney. On the other hand Romney has his own problems: Tax Returns release refusal; Shipping jobs abroad, banking in Swiss banks; issue with women freedom and above all lack of specifics how he is going to create jobs. Even fellow republicans and TEA Party are distancing themselves from R&R ticket. They cannot defend it. They are now saying they may as well vote for President Obama on November 6.

Mitt's doing fine now looks to be putting away both North Carolina and Virginia.......Big poll out of VA yesterday with large sample and Mitt's leading by 5% in VA 49% to 44%. Other great news in that poll is George Allen is leading Kaine for the Senate. We need VA's Senate seat in order to fire Dirty Harry Reid

Romney in Virginia

There is a lot of talk in the press about Obama's post-convention bounce, but perhaps the most overlooked development of the last few days is that Romney, for the first time in the election, has taken the lead in the crucial swing state of Virginia.

In my opinion, Romney's weak point is that he promotes his plans without explaining how they are supposed to work; and then he refuses to give details to "show his work".

The Ryan/Romney tax plan is all top-down and goal-oriented: but he doesn't tell you what tax loopholes he's going to cut out, just that he wants to lower the top tax rates. The neutral Tax Policy Center has already concluded that, even under the best possible interpretation of what he has said, this plan cannot accomplish what he promises: It must either balloon the fiscal deficit or hit up the middle class. If there was a real plan, they could put it on the table: Do they want to eliminate the mortgage interest credit?, etc. But the R/R approach is: "Elect us first, we'll tell you what we plan to take out on 7 November - AFTER the election."

This kind of "don't check under my sleeves" approach is why the issue of Romney's undisclosed tax filings are such a bother: He doesn't feel it's necessary for him to meet the same level of tax transparency that every candidate has provided since his own dad, GEORGE Romney, ran for president decades ago. What can be so bad that it's worth putting up with this "open sore" of an issue for the rest of the campaign, when he could dispatch the issue in 10 minutes?

It reminds me of the old Arlo Guthrie song, about someone smuggling marijuana through LA:

With just under eight weeks till Election Day, the anxious chorus from nervous Republicans can be heard loud and clear throughout the land: “Mitt — what are you gonna do?”............Team Politco/Obama.

lol...........another media dreamed-up story..............."anxious". When you UNCOOK these cooked polls and apply the real weight of the Republican vote on November 6th, 2012............if I was Obama I'd be very nervous because when you uncook these polls Romney and Ryan are winning by double digits.

But I like to watch Obama's MSM Super Wolf Pac Press pals try to demoralize and create chaos in the Republican race. It won't work Americans are tired of being tired and Obama's poor performance is the reason.

Anything to Re-install their boy, Obama.

If I was Romney I would talk about the ONLY issue that Americans are voting on in November, the Economy Stupid.

Mitt needs to know that he's coming across as wishy-washy and self-contradictory. His campaign messages seem to contradict each other, and he isn't meshing well with Ryan. As many times as Romney has run for office, he should know better than to criticize the way his own running mate has voted on key bills in Congress.

If he can't run his own campaign how would he be at leading the entire country???

Maybe its time to throw in the towel and start planning his '16 race, LOL. The third time might be a charm and he's just looking more and more like a real idiot by kowtowing to the Tea Party, Karl Rove, Grover Norquist and Sheldon Adelson. How long will it be before the billionaires start pulling out in disgust?? There have been too many versions of his views on all the issues and America no longer believes anything he or Ryan say. Face it, cons, the guy is a dud, and no amount of stories from Ann about eating tuna helper will humanize him. Next time pick a candidate that is either a true conservative or a better actor because I have never seen a more uncomfortable politician.

Duh, hire Iranians, Syrians, Hizbullah, Salafists and Libyan Al Queda groups to take American hostages for ransom starting 9/11/12. Get some Iranian sailor drunk enough to launch a missile at a US warship. Donate tires to be lit in Ramallah. Call for the Turkish Army to invade Syria.

An article about Obama's dismal economic record from the media might be helpful. Maybe an article or two about Obama's lack of 2nd term specifics to level out the biasness from the media would help Romney..

Is there any interest for an article about the poverty caused by Obama's failed economic recovery?

I remember when I was growing up that Richard Nixon won in 1968 by telling Americans he had a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam that he would reveal after the election. Well, of course Nixon was lying and the war dragged on for another 7 years after he got into office. That should have told voters something about his character--it previewed his disgraceful behavior during Watergate. Now we are asked to believe that Romney's economic plan and plans to change the tax code will fix our economy. Of course he has refused to reveal key details such as which loopholes he plans to close, until after the election. That tells me everything I need to know about Romney's character. No point in waiting for another Watergate!

So what should Romney do? Talk about the Wrong Change We Can Believe In........ Here is something Obama has accomplished in the last four years:

U.S. Slips from No. 1 to No.7 in global economic rankings

So says a new report from the World Economic Forum which found the U.S. slipping in dozens of areas compared with just a few years ago. Perhaps most troubling is the conclusion that since 2008, the United States has slid from No. 1 in the world in "global competitiveness" to No. 7 this year.

Romney is busy locking down North Carolina, up by 10% there and the very important state of Virginia. George Allen who is running against Kaine for the Senate is leading too.........very good news in a state that has made me nervous. This poll has a huge sampling.....

Romney is doing exactly what he is supposed to do. He's just a placeholder. The Republicans knew they had no shot at beating the President, so they recycled this old wagon. Then they threw a bone to Ryan for being "bold" enough to put forth a budget plan that ruined his career.

So POLITCO........what should you boy, Obama, do? Laundry List of Obama's Failures (not the full basket)

I don't take this message lightly. But today's events are the transparency that President Obama doesn't want you to see. But he knows he's going to lose... he has dropped his facade.

THE UNITED STATES IS IN DIRE TROUBLE. WE HAVE NOVEMBER 6TH TO CHANGE IT.

Today in Cairo, Egypt, the US embassy was raided, the US flag pulled from the pole, and a black flag raised as chants of "There is no God but Allah and Mohammad is his messenger" were heard

.

Today in Libya, the US embassy was raided and burned to the ground. An American has been killed.

Today, US Intelligence reports that Egypt's Intelligence chief and a top Iranian spy met in a secret meeting. This obviously causes fear in Israel. (Not that our President makes it to any of his Intelligence meetings.)

What is the President of the United States of America's response to all of this? He rejects a requested meeting with Israel's Prime Minister Netanyahu. President Obama's excuse is... "I'm too busy," then promptly announces an appearance on David Letterman.

When it was announced that the language of God and Israeli support be restored to the Democratic platform because Obama wanted it, who believed it then? Who still believes it now?

Moody's looks to downgrade US credit... again. Twice in one Presidency, while the President tries to blame others for the problem.

The Washington Post states what I am feeling, "Obama is on track to have the worst job record since WWII"

He has to devote an inordinate amount of his time preparing for the debate and have a shocking victory in at least one of his debate appearances. Keep Ryan campaigning as Romney codifies his strongest arguments on the economy and refining the "better off than 4 years ago" argument.

Muslims Attack U.S. Embassy, Burn American Flag on 9/11, While Team Obama kiss their collective asses

Hundreds of protesters marched to the embassy in downtown Cairo, gathering outside its walls and chanting against the movie, which was reportedly produced in the United States.

"Say it, don't fear: Their ambassador must leave," the crowd chanted.

Dozens of protesters then scaled the embassy walls, went into the courtyard and took down the flag from a pole. They brought it back to the crowd outside, which tried to burn it, but failing that, tore it apart. The protesters on the wall then raised on the flagpole a black flag with the Muslim declaration of faith on it, "There is no god but God and Muhammad is his prophet."

Read the Whole story HERE.

What is Team Obama's response:

I agree with Charles Krauthammer below:

Please check us out on Facebook and If you like what you see, please "Like" us. You can find us here

Any American who listened to Obama's acceptance speech at the DNC convention now knows Obama and the Democrats really don't want the economy to recover. They want more experiments with the economy like FDR did to prolong the Great Depression. Dems haven't passed 22 JOBS bills now sitting dusty in the Senate.

Is this what any voter wants for another 4 years? no. So the alternative IS ROMNEY who will create 12 million jobs and get this economy turned around.

Filmmakers call it "the movie the White House doesn't want you to see." Apparently, they're right.

Perhaps the president was hoping 2016: Obama’s America would come and go unnoticed like so many other political documentaries. But seven weeks after its opening, the film is still going strong, prompting Barack Obama to finally respond, which he has done through a lengthy entry at his campaign’s website that calls the movie “a deliberate distortion” of his “record and world view.”"